I expected the defense to strangle Osweiler and their offense for the most part. The front four have been lights out, the LBs have been good, safeties good and the corners have been doing well. But I thought this was going to be a low scoring defensive game with a ton of field position battles. Wentz is getting a lot of press, but Pederson deserves a big share of that pie if you ask me.

I'm sorry, Doug. I thought you were a shitty hire by an owner who was looking for a liberal love fest to repair the damage done by a duck chip. You and your staff have not only done a great job coaching up your new QB, but you've connected with the team and are putting them in position to make plays.

I expected the defense to strangle Osweiler and their offense for the most part. The front four have been lights out, the LBs have been good, safeties good and the corners have been doing well. But I thought this was going to be a low scoring defensive game with a ton of field position battles. Wentz is getting a lot of press, but Pederson deserves a big share of that pie if you ask me.

I'm sorry, Doug. I thought you were a shitty hire by an owner who was looking for a liberal love fest to repair the damage done by a duck chip. You and your staff have not only done a great job coaching up your new QB, but you've connected with the team and are putting them in position to make plays.

Thanks, Coach Pederson!

I've been convinced he was a good coach since the end of the season. His teams were well prepared and he was creating offense with a rookie QB and absolute dog shit at the skill position, save Sproles. He made a few mistakes, which isn't really surprising. And perhaps those in number themselves were impressive for a rookie coach. But the overall body of work in terms of tactics, preparedness and effort were very apparent.

That's not to say that anyone could have expected this kind of improvement going from mediocre to elite with only a few added components and a season of experience. That is remarkable. And he's the biggest reason why.

Wow that last sentence is big praise for Pedey. I think he has done a solid job as "glue guy" HC with strong coordinators below him.

However the biggest reason is the surprising growth of CW. When a 2nd year QB leads the league in various 3rd down efficiency numbers and half of his skill guys are new, you know you have something special.

The "few added components" were at the area of biggest need--WR. They added their top 3 WRs and that was after loosing their best, and only decent, WR from last year. I consider N Agholor a reincarnation or some other miraculous event, not the same player we saw in previous years.

I give Howie more credit for this team's improvements than Pedey, but mostly, this has been an impressive job by so many from the front office to coaching staff to players who have stepped up.

So many players have over achieved what I expected:

P Robinson CB More than a few people thought he would not make the team. B Brooks OG Remember the games he missed due to anxiety last year. This could have been uglyL Johnson OT No one knew what he'd be able to do without his "supplements."L Blount RB Would he have anything left in the tank after so many snaps last yearJ Elliot, if you wrote that story, it would be too fantastic for a fictional novel. V Curry DE M Kendricks LB and J Kelce OC. So many thought they'd be traded for peanuts and cap space. J Mills CBZ Ertz is finally having the "breakout year" that we've expected for the past few years. N Bradham. He could be in jail now.Rookies R Douglass and M Hollins are playing are playing beyond their years.C Clement. 3 TDs for a UDFA, are you kidding meBarner gets pulled off of the street and soon becomes special teamer of the week. J Watkins S/CB is finally playing consistently with his draft slot.

No one person gets the credit for the synergistic performance we are seeing.

I just hope they don't peak too soon. Fortunately they have a few guys who have been similar positions before with the Pats and other successful teams. Hopefully the leadership and character will be adequate to keep them humble and hungry.

QUOTE (Pila @ Nov 6 2017, 09:15 AM)

I've been convinced he was a good coach since the end of the season. His teams were well prepared and he was creating offense with a rookie QB and absolute dog shit at the skill position, save Sproles. He made a few mistakes, which isn't really surprising. And perhaps those in number themselves were impressive for a rookie coach. But the overall body of work in terms of tactics, preparedness and effort were very apparent.

That's not to say that anyone could have expected this kind of improvement going from mediocre to elite with only a few added components and a season of experience. That is remarkable. And he's the biggest reason why.

Isn't it the primary function of the HC to be the "glue"? When you slap a bunch of pieces together and find a way to make it work, the HC deserves the credit.

QUOTE (Joegrane @ Nov 6 2017, 10:48 AM)

Wow that last sentence is big praise for Pedey. I think he has done a solid job as "glue guy" HC with strong coordinators below him.

However the biggest reason is the surprising growth of CW. When a 2nd year QB leads the league in various 3rd down efficiency numbers and half of his skill guys are new, you know you have something special.

The "few added components" were at the area of biggest need--WR. They added their top 3 WRs and that was after loosing their best, and only decent, WR from last year. I consider N Agholor a reincarnation or some other miraculous event, not the same player we saw in previous years.

I give Howie more credit for this team's improvements than Pedey, but mostly, this has been an impressive job by so many from the front office to coaching staff to players who have stepped up.

So many players have over achieved what I expected:

P Robinson CBB Brooks OG Remember the games he missed due to anxiety last year. This could have been uglyL Johnson OT No one knew what he'd be able to do without his "supplements."L Blount RB Would he have anything left in the tank after so many snaps last yearJ Elliot, if you wrote that story, it would be too fantastic for a fictional novel. V Curry DE M Kendricks LB and J Kelce OC. So many thought they'd be traded for peanuts and cap space. J Mills CBZ Ertz is finally having the "breakout year" that we've expected for the past few years. N Bradham. He could be in jail now.Rookies R Douglass and M Hollins are playing are playing beyond their years.C Clement. 3 TDs for a UDFA, are you kidding meBarner gets pulled off of the street and soon becomes special teamer of the week. J Watkins S/CB is finally playing consistently with his draft slot.

No one person gets the credit for the synergistic performance we are seeing.

I just hope they don't peak too soon. Fortunately they have a few guys who have been similar positions before with the Pats and other successful teams. Hopefully the leadership and character will be adequate to keep them humble and hungry.

--------------------

"Bless my eyes this morning, Jah sun is on the rise once again. The way earthly things are going, anything can happen." Robert Nesta Marley (1945 – 1981)

Isn't it the primary function of the HC to be the "glue"? When you slap a bunch of pieces together and find a way to make it work, the HC deserves the credit.

Precisely correct. When that "synergy" fails, the coach gets the brunt of the blame - and rightfully so. So, when it works, it is primarily because of good coaching, and credit is similarly duly deserved. Tactically, he's the guy (for the offense, anyway). His design of the offense and strtegic game plans and play-calling have been that of spectacular work. So it's not like he's just been delivering in the rah-rah dept.

Precisely correct. When that "synergy" fails, the coach gets the brunt of the blame - and rightfully so. So, when it works, it is primarily because of good coaching, and credit is similarly duly deserved. Tactically, he's the guy (for the offense, anyway). His design of the offense and strtegic game plans and play-calling have been that of spectacular work. So it's not like he's just been delivering in the rah-rah dept.

Exactly. Roseman did do an amazing job assembling the players, but many of them had question marks for a reason, and not every coach would be capable of getting the production out of them that Pederson has. I'm not dissing Schwartz, but Pederson apparently was either smart enough or confident enough to step aside and let him do his thing without interfering. Again, not all coaches would do that ... Kelly didn't.

Exactly. Roseman did do an amazing job assembling the players, but many of them had question marks for a reason, and not every coach would be capable of getting the production out of them that Pederson has. I'm not dissing Schwartz, but Pederson apparently was either smart enough or confident enough to step aside and let him do his thing without interfering. Again, not all coaches would do that ... Kelly didn't.

I wish it was this weekend. Not sure the week off actually will work in our favor. They came out a bit rusty on their 10-day, mini bye from their last Thursday night game.

Exactly. Roseman did do an amazing job assembling the players, but many of them had question marks for a reason, and not every coach would be capable of getting the production out of them that Pederson has. I'm not dissing Schwartz, but Pederson apparently was either smart enough or confident enough to step aside and let him do his thing without interfering. Again, not all coaches would do that ... Kelly didn't.

Exactly! To not credit pedey for our teams overall success is nuts! The man has the right amount of everything needed to keep the team in sync and ready to play every week. I honestly don't know what his coaching style is, I haven't seen his training camps and I haven't heard of any good articles about what he does differently.

I love to argue when we are debating who is most responsible for an 8-1 record : )

You have to have "coachable" players who buy into the culture and training. Part of that depends on the individual player. Some of it is on the individual coaches. Some of it is on the leadership among the players. When you have high character, successful guys like J Peters, D Sproles, M Jenkins, F Cox using their clout wisely, you can expect a culture that leads to success.

In contrast recall the debacle among the Miami O Linemen some years ago.

Did the Raiders have any major changes in personnel or coaches this year? How does a seemingly young and up-and-coming team like the Raiders go from 12-4 to 4-5?

QUOTE (Phits @ Nov 6 2017, 11:19 AM)

Isn't it the primary function of the HC to be the "glue"? When you slap a bunch of pieces together and find a way to make it work, the HC deserves the credit.